In 1871, British Columbia agreed to enter the Canadian ConfederationThis is a group of people or nations or tribes or provinces that form an "alliance".... on one condition: a railway linking it to central Canada had to be built within ten years. And with that, the British colonyColonizationColonization occurs when one country takes control of another country, territory, or people. It happens when... became a province of the new Canadian ConfederationThis is a group of people or nations or tribes or provinces that form an "alliance"..... Political life in BC proceeded in much the same way as it did in the other provinces. The Premier, who was also head of the party in power, led the government which was mostly made up of elected members of the legislative assembly.
British Columbia was also represented in Ottawa, at the federal government, by 34 members of parliament who sat in the House of Commons. These members had been elected by citizens who had the right to vote, and they had to defend the province’s interests with the central government.
One interesting aspect of British Columbia politics in 1905 was that many people did not have voting rights, including Indigenous Peoples, Asians and women. Only British subjects who were white male property owners over 21 could vote. These conditions made many people unhappy. Premier Richard McBride was well aware of this fact. He knew that since unskilled workers made up most of the province’s populationPopulation comes from the Latin populus, meaning “the people.” We say population when we talk about a group..., he had to listen to them; otherwise, the consequences could be disastrous. And yet, it was only in 1953 that everyone obtained the right to vote.
AuthorAuthor - A person who writes something Auteur - Une personne qui écrit quelque chose: Service national du Récit de l’univers social
See also – Links:
- ConfederationThis is a group of people or nations or tribes or provinces that form an "alliance".... 1867 (Coming soon; see French version)
- The Canadian federation
- The railway
